The Hatter's Winter
by The Hatter Who's Mad
Summary: This follows a boy, known simply as The Hatter, in 1890's London. He uncovers a plot to gain power, and gains the powers for himself. Follow his decent into madness, his first blood, and his untimely, but inevitable, death. Reviews are welcome and encouraged, I would like to know how I could get better at writing! :)
1. Powers? Nay, I'm just Mad

Winter, 1897. London, England

_A young boy trudged through the snow surrounding his numb feet, walking down alleyways and side streets. He put his hands in his pockets, shivering, his long overcoat swaying behind him in the biting wind. He walked into a small, rundown shop and shut the door behind him, throwing off his coat and putting a large chunk of wood on the already blazing fire. He sat on a dusty, worn armchair and put his feet on a small rest, just as dusty, pulling off his old boots and throwing them on the floor near the door. Lastly, he walked over to the door, standing near a coat hanger. He took off and placed on this, his hat. He walked back over to the small armchair, looking at the fire. Above, on a small golden plaque, were engraved the words, 'The Hatter'._

December 7th, 1897.

_The Hatter walked through the streets on London, playing with a stack of cards and staring down at the floor. He stopped in front of a small warehouse, and walked inside. He ignored the looks he got from the workers and continued out to the back of the warehouse, walking onto an abandoned street, filled with rundown houses, windows boarded up and smashed. He continued down the street, past the never-ending houses, until he finally arrived at a large main street, with a box on one side. He went over to it, and picked it up, taking out all of his gear and sat down on the box. Over the course of the day, he performed his cheap tricks and shows, taking what little money the passers-by already had. However, waiting here on the streets, 1 man in particular caught his ear. A fat, portly man, with a scar down his left cheek, was muttering as he passed by about a power that could allow him authority. The Hatter watched him carefully, thinking what the strange, stout man could be talking about_

December 8th, 1897.

_The Hatter sat, at his usual position on the street, and at about the same time as yesterday, the fat man walked past again. This time, however, The Hatter stood up and followed him, to a large house, sitting just next to the Thames. It was a mansion, of sorts, built with large stone columns running down the front of the house, with a large, wooden door behind them and The Hatter couldn't help but be amazed as he quietly slipped inside. He followed the man up a large, stone staircase, stopping and holding his breath at every sound, before continuing on. The man walked through a door and up to a large, circular vat of liquid, oozing and bubbling at the surface. He continued to mutter about the 'power' that would come with this, as he watched it, almost transfixed by it. The Hatter climbed up the side of the room, sitting on a high window-sill, directly above the gurgling, frothy blue liquid, quite precariously. Suddenly, the window-sill cracked, and fell out from beneath him, as the Hatter fell into the vat of liquid. As he crawled out, falling to the floor, an eerie blue glow surrounded The Hatter, as the fat man turned to look, gasping and red-faced,_

_"Who are you?" He asked, loudly and angrily, waiting for the boy to stand up. Looking down at his hands, glowing blue, the Hatter grinned, a sudden surge of newfound confidence within him, "Me? I'm the Mad Hatter". The man roared with anger, throwing the nearest object to him, a steel candelabra, towards the Hatter, who quickly ducked out of the way and ran to the window, jumping and smashing it as he fell. Opening his eyes as he fell, The Hatter realised he had jumped from a window 20 odd feet in the air, and he screamed in terror. He hit the ground with a thud, and opened one of his eyes, curious. That should have killed him, but instead he was standing here, absolutely fine. Worried, he ran back home, and slammed the door._


	2. The Hatter's First Blood

December 11th, 1897.

_The Hatter had been sitting alone, in his small shack, in front of the fire, for three days. No one knew he was here, and that was how he liked it. He chuckled lightly, then a bit louder, then he cackled at the thought that no one would ever find him. He didn't understand what the liquid was, but he knew what it had done. It'd given him powers, beyond his wildest dreams. He fiddled with his cards, suspending them in mid-air, then allowing them to fall to the floor, then making them float up in front of him again. Suddenly, a loud slamming on his door awoke him from his trance, as he looked over his shoulder. He slowly stood up, cautiously walking over to the door, and gently pulling on the handle. Outside the door, stood the fat man, and another fat man. The stout man had a twin, and they were both standing outside the small shack of The Hatter. One of them stepped forward, barely squeezing through the door, a vicious grin on his face,_

_"You've upset our… proprietor" he said, choosing his words slowly and carefully. The other man, equally as fat, wedged himself through the door, blocking it off,_

_"That's not a good idea, Hatter" he said, spitting the last word. Behind his back, the Hatter was waving his hand, trying to pick up the cards, but to no avail. He thought quickly, and asked,_

_"Who would that be, then? And who are you?"_

_"I'm Tweedle-Dee" the first fat man said,_

_"And I'm Tweedle-Dum" The second added,_

_"And who we work for is none of your concern" They both said, synchronised. As the Hatter struggled to think of a way out, he studied the two twins carefully. They wore plain, clean white shirts, with a red tie on Dee, and a bowtie on Dum. They were both fitted with a deep, scarlet suit jacket, and black trousers, with smart black shoes, polished well. On their left hand, on their middle finger, each of them had a single, heart-shaped ring. They both had a short mop of greasy black hair and brown eyes. "All you need to know, is that she wants you dead" Dee said, lunging forward suddenly, and reaching out to grab The Hatter. The Hatter fell back, over the chair, and out of the reach of the Twins. He grabbed his cards, placed them in one hand and threw the first in the pack. It struck Dum in the chest, as blood started trickling out of the hole made by the card. Dum fell to the floor, and Dee gasped, and looked towards The Hatter,_

_"I'll get you one day, Hatter!" he roared, tears in his eyes, "I'll make you wish you were never born!"_

_Dee ran out of the house, past his dead brother, lying on the floor, a Queen of Hearts, embedded in his chest._

_The Hatter sat, wide-eyed at what he'd just done. He'd murdered a man, in cold-blood, with a playing card! After recuperating, he picked up the fat man, struggling against his weight, and hid him in a side alley far away from his house. However, instead of leaving the bloodied card, he picked it out of Dum's chest. These two weren't the last people he'd be seeing, and he needed to be ready to kill, and to remind him of this, he placed his first card on his hat, still covered in blood._


	3. The First Rabbit

December 14th, 1897

_After the fight with Dee and Dum, The Hatter hadn't left his house in days. He had, however, kept track of the days, and decided it was time for him to start going out again. During the days in, he had practised with his new-found powers and was fairly good at them. He walked to his normal spot, in his normal clothes, the hat and the long coat, with his heavy black shoes trudging through the snow, now up to his knees. His legs were numb and he could barely move them in a straight line. He found the box and sat down, starting to do his normal tricks. After a few hours and no one had noticed him, he decided to integrate his powers with his old tricks. Within the next hour, The Hatter had noticed a significant increase in people stopping, looking and, most importantly, giving him money. As the sun was setting, and The Hatter was just about to leave, a strange, tall and thin boy, about the same age as the Hatter, walked up to him,_

_"Hello!" The boy said, with an enthusiastic smile on his face_

_"Erm, hi" The Hatter said, raising an eyebrow_

_"I noticed your tricks, how would you like to come to tea with me? Tomorrow?" The boy asked_

_"Tea? With food?" The Hatter asked, standing up_

_"Yes, cakes, biscuits and TEA!" the boy replied, somewhat loudly. Normally, the Hatter would have been more cautious, but the promise of actual food had blurred his mind._

_"Yes, I'll come. I'll definitely come!" The Hatter answered, smiling at the thought of cake, "What's your name?"_

_"Me? Well, people call me a Rabbit. They say I talk like one but I don't really see it to be honest, what do you think? Do you think I talk like a Rabbit?" Rabbit asked_

_The Hatter didn't answer, instead he asked,_

_"Where is this?"_

_"Oh, just meet me here at midday tomorrow"_

_The Hatter stared at Rabbit as he walked off, quickly,_

_"What a strange man" he thought to himself, walking back home._

_That night he lay in his dusty, old armchair, sleeping peacefully infront of the fire, dreaming of the cakes and biscuits he'd eat tomorrow. Suddenly, his dreams were disturbed by screaming, and Tweedle-Dum fell onto the table, crushing the Hatter's cup. Horrified, he looked up at Rabbit, who, instead of being at the other end of the table, was now face to face to him, wearing a horrifying mask, with bunny ears and red eyes. Rabbit screamed in a distorted, un-earthly voice,_

_"This is your fault! You're a murderer, Hatter! You killed a man!"_

_The Hatter shrank back into the chair, staring at the body of Tweedle-Dum and covering his ears with his hands, whimpering slightly._

_He awoke with a start, sweating through. He looked around him. He was in his home, lying on the floor, and his armchair and next to him. He must have fallen off it. He stood up and realised the time. It was nearly midday, and he needed to be outside. He quickly threw on his clothes, walking out the door and he was halfway down the street when he realised he had forgotten his hat. Running back, he opened the door and looked at the dead body of Tweedle-Dum on his floor. Horrified, he blinked, and it was gone. The Hatter shook his head, grabbed his hat and ran past the houses and to his usual place, where he saw the Rabbit tapping his foot impatiently._


	4. The Teaparty

December 15th, 1897

_The Hatter arrived at his usual spot late, where he saw the Rabbit tapping his foot impatiently, looking around. When he saw The Hatter, the Rabbit ran up and grabbed the Hatter's arm, dragging him down the road. The Rabbit led him to a small clearing, in a forest on the outskirts of town. Sitting comfortably within the clearing, is a large table, with 5 seats down the sides and one seat at each head. The table was laden with all manners of different cakes and sweets, and right in the middle was a large teapot. Set up at each of the places, there was a teacup, 2 knives, 2 forks, a single spoon and a large plate. There were only 4 people at the table, including The Hatter and the Rabbit. The first was a small boy, no older than 7 or 8, with a mouse-like face and a mop of unruly, brown hair. The second was another boy, slightly older than the first, with a strange smile plastered on his face as he looked around. Hatter's first thought was not that of mad, but simply optimistic. The first boy looked at the hatter and smiled, _

"_Hello, come to join the party?" he asked with a smile, in an accent the Hatter couldn't quite place, "I'm Mallymkun" he said, adding, "Call me Mally" after seeing the confused look on the Hatter's face._

"_And I'm Chessur" the second boy added, reaching over the table and picking up a cake, quickly putting it in his mouth and eating. The Hatter nodded as he sat down at the nearest chair,_

"_I'm Hatter" he told the two, smiling at the food. The Rabbit smiled and clapped his hands gleefully, hopping to the other end of the long table. After taking a biscuit or two, the Hatter looked up at Rabbit, _

"_What's your name? Your real name, you never told me" he asked_

"_Haigha, my name's Haigha" The Rabbit answered_

"_Well, if you're called Haigha, which starts with 'H', shouldn't the Hare be a more suitable name?" Hatter suggested_

"_The Hare" The Rabbit repeated, sounding the word out, "Yes, it's good. Everybody!" he said to the table, clinking the cup of tea with his fork, "I shall now be known as the Hare!"_

_As the Hatter tucked in to the cakes, the Hare went around the table, filling up the cups with tea. The three boys all picked up their drinks, raising the glasses and drinking in synchronisation. The Hare watched intently as the three stooped in the chairs, and The Hatter felt his eyes grow heavy, finally slamming shut.__HHHa _


	5. The Horrifying Truth

15th December, 1897

_The Hatter woke up several hours later, lying down and staring up at a burning lamp, a few feet above him. He tried to get up, but to no avail. Looking around, he saw that he was in a small, dark room, with several tables like the one he was strapped to. Cold, hard and metal, with leather straps pinning him down at his arms and legs. Only three of the tables were filled, including the table he was on, with moving bodies. He realised with horror that the other tables around him were all covered, with decayed corpses, in various stages of decay. There was one feature all of them had. They all had their stomachs torn open. He managed to painfully pull his hand out of the strap binding it to the table. He started fiddling with his other hand, trying not to be sick. Before he could free himself, he heard footsteps tramping down stairs outside a large door on one side of the room. He lay back, acting like one of the dead, and hoping that whoever did this walked past him. As the door creaked open, the Hatter suddenly heard a small, high tune being sung slowly,_

"_Stomp, stomp, down the stairs, and to the rusty door. Creak, creak goes the door, at the party of four." The Hatter's eyes widened in horror as he realised that the person who'd locked them down here was the Hare. As he made his way across the floor towards one of the bodies, he kept singing the tune, seemingly making it up as he went along,_

"_Pound, pound, go my feet, as I walk to the mouse, who's lying under my house." The Hatter heard a screeching sound and, looking up as far as he dared, he saw the Hare slowly making his way towards Mally with a large butcher's knife in his hand. The Hatter fumbled around for anything he could use against the Hare, realising his only weapon was the card on his hat. He started to struggle against his bonds as the Hare slowly crept towards Mally. As the Hare slowly cut into Mally's stomach, the Hatter cringed at the screams he heard, and suddenly fell to the floor and his bonds snapped. He crouched, peeking his head over the metal table to look around for his hat. He caught a glimpse of it just as he ducked down, sitting on a table in the far corner. He looked up one last time before running to it, only to see the Hare eating Mally's insides, while he screamed in pain and horror. Trying to keep himself from throwing up, the Hatter ran, still crouched, ducking between the tables, over to his hat, placing it on his head. He grabbed the card, which started to glow, and shouted towards the Hare,_

"_Hey! Let go of him!"_

_The Hare turned to see the Hatter standing, and roared, half in anger and half in terror,_

"_How'd you escape?" he screamed, throwing the knife at Hatter, who quickly ducked out of the way, throwing the glowing blue card in his hands. The card struck the Hare's top, pushing him against the wall, struggling to get away from the card. The Hatter ran to an already dead Mally, and carefully closed his eyes, unbinding him and laying him on the floor. With a final roar, the Hare ripped his shirt, running towards Hatter, who threw him onto the table and quickly strapped him in. The Hare started screaming for mercy as the Hatter walked from table to table, finding Chessur at the last table. After being woken and freed, Chessur looked between Hatter and Hare, surprised._

"_I'll explain later" The Hatter said, walking away, towards the stairs._

"_You can't leave me down here! I'll go mad!" The Hare screamed as he walked away._

"_You already have, Haigha!" The Hatter replied, not looking back and the blood filled room._


End file.
